Guess it depends, I am taking a long term view of the QB position into account and frankly for me the long term view is more important than what happens in 2010.

I know not all fans think that way but that is the angle I am coming from.


Matt is not here past 2010 (if you sign him to an extension based on 2010 that is a mistake, IMO they would have given him an extension if they truly believed he was the answer). At this point I think they are just letting him bow out gracefully. My opinion but its what I think is happening.

We will never, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, EVER actually know the answer to this unless Whitehurst gets playing time. People will continue to make assumptions one way or the other, but those assumptions will lack ANY evidence until we actually see Whitehurst play in a stretch of regular season games to see what he can do.

He had some good preseason games and some bad preseason games. You know who else has had some good preseason games and bad preseason games? Hasselbeck. Bad preseason games are not a guarantee of bad regular season play. They just aren't.

I don't advocate a change to Whitehurst because of Hasselbeck's play in the Denver game or even because of his play at the end of last season. I advocate the change because Hasselbeck turns 35 in 3 days and he is NOT the future of this team. I do not believe in waiting, putting off the development of our next franchise QB until Hasselbeck is well past his expiration date as a starter. I think we need to see what we have in Whitehurst - and no, I will not accept the "expert" opinions of those here who have already declared him a bust before seeing him take one regular season snap as a Seahawk - so we can decide whether we need the franchise QB in the 2011 draft, or if we can plug other holes with those early picks and draft the franchise QB in 2012 or 2013.

In the end, my answer to the above question is that yes, I believe Whitehurst CAN lead the team better. I do not, however, believe that he WILL or WON'T because we have zero evidence one way or the other. But more importantly, I do believe that a younger franchise QB can lead the team better in 2012, when I expect us to contend, than Hass can in 2012.

_________________


Okay, so maybe that pass rush is still an issue. Lather, rinse, repeat.

Just because he under throws one pass means his arm strength is an issue?

He also over threw on a couple deep passes, including the 50+ yarder to John Carlson. He had a 50 yard pass to Golden Tate.

http://www.nfl.com/gamecenter/201009190 ... #tab:watch

You are right about him throwing under pressure, which is how the second pick happened. I dont think it was because of his arm strength at all. He shouldnt have thrown that pass, period. Not many QB's can throw a solid bomb with that kinda heat on them.

Hass still has an arm and he can throw deep when he wants to. To say that his arm strength is questionable because he cant throw a thirty yard pass in a split second with a DE about to destroy him is kinda ridiculous.

Why not bring up some of his nice plays if you're gonna post the bad? Like this beauty to Golden Tate:

http://www.nfl.com/gamecenter/201009190 ... #tab:watch

_________________
~ The Stache'

The long term answer is in future drafts. Why would they let him bow gracefully that doesn't make sense. If we are 1-4 at the trade deadline, he could easily be moved for something. There will be teams in need. Now if he is at 3-1 at the bye, he will likely get an extension, especially if he can show he can protect the ball. That way they can take and sit the future. The draft has one lock at QB and 3 projects. So the projects are gonna have to sit a couple. With this division in up in the air every year MH is gonna be the guy.

Why haven't they given him an extension?

That makes no sense to me. If you believe in him beyond 2010, why wait?

Sorry but I don't get that so because that makes no sense to ME, I assume that their is another reason he is starting. The NFL is a business, it is entertainment, I do believe that sometimes that side of things does play a role. Fans would have been incredibly angry if Matt were benched or traded and Charlie was not perfect. To me it makes sense from a PR standpoint to stay with him.

Either that or they want to win in 2010 so bad that they are not worrying about 2011 and beyond.


Both seem possible because I don't think its because they see him as a long term answer.

Just because I don't mention a play does not mean I did not see it or am ignoring it. Again, I said he can make the throws if he has time, you don't think any QBs make that throw to Carlson, I think many (including Whitehurst) could.

Rather Whitehurst would, not sure but I think he has the arm to make that throw. Matt doesn't.

And despite some very nice deep balls I have NEVER trusted Matt to throw a deep ball, its just not his strength and never was.

Jesus watching those highlights again it's unbelievable how bad Tatupu looked on that screen play. Unacceptable.

Through the first two games our OL has pass blocked very well. The first half against Denver showed our revamped OL could create running lanes. However, it's hard to run the ball if the scoreboard shows 2+ touchdown deficit. If that game stayed close we would have run the ball at will by the end of the game, and won.

When opposing teams compress the field- they win. Hasselbeck can't turn the ball over 2+ times a game and have fans and the team expect to win. No quarterback can. It might happen sometimes, but everyone gets lucky - sometimes. His lack of arm, and indecisiveness allows safeties to cheat closer to the line of scrimmage. That hurts the running game and puts more pressure on the passing game. San Fran got beat in part because of their defensive aggressiveness and our WRs use of double moves, which made Matt look great. Love the team, not the player.

_________________
"You don't always get to play playoff games at home, or conference championships at home, or superbowls at home. You have to have the mindset that you can play to your potential wherever you are." - Pete Carroll

Compare the length of time that Bulger survived in STL. He definitely had the guts and experience to play that position, but eventually just too many mistakes combined with a poor record landed them Sam Bradford. However, the division winners the past several years have not been dominant, so Bulger hung around. Sound familiar??

MH's mechanics have deteriorated and his mistakes have increased dramatically over the past several games - but you can't replace the experience and guts. He's #1 on our team in those categories. At some point, the guy has to take a seat...

_________________

question, what is our goal here? winning the division or winning a Superbowl in the future? i hope its the latter

an extension to Hass at any point would be stupid.

_________________

Official Tharold Simon Fan Club Member

I'm glad you linked this video, because you need to watch it again. Notice how long Tate had to WAIT for the ball. Heck, we're lucky that pass didn't get picked off. If that pass is thrown properly, Golden is celebrating his first touchdown.

_________________
"You don't always get to play playoff games at home, or conference championships at home, or superbowls at home. You have to have the mindset that you can play to your potential wherever you are." - Pete Carroll

Exactly. I think it was warner28 who said this in the offseason, you can't even really sign Matt to a backup contract after this year. If you keep him around, whoever the new QB is, the fans are always going to clamor for MH if the new QB has a bad game. Best just to let him walk off into the sunset.

_________________

Taking stock of our team, I'd say plugging in Whitehurst is a drop in "guts & experience" but an upgrade in talent - and would have a net overall positive effect on our season. Semantics on which is more important (playoffs or Super Bowl). That's our long-time chicken-egg argument that I don't think ever gets solved.

_________________

Everyone seems to think that we the fans have to see whitehurst play so we can know what we have. The coaches see him practice everyday. They know what they have. PC has his plan to move forward with this team. Just because you the fan don't know what the plan is doesn't mean it's not in full effect right now. WE don't need to see what Whitehurst has, THEY do, and they see himi day in and day out. Nuff Said

True enough about the chicken-egg argument, but it's a point of emphasis this year because of the depth "potentially" available in the next draft.

Carroll is here for the long term, and his short term impact has been good so far, IMO. All I know is that I won't be surprised to see a Vertical-Pro Style QB starting next year over a seasoned West Coast offense QB.

_________________
"You don't always get to play playoff games at home, or conference championships at home, or superbowls at home. You have to have the mindset that you can play to your potential wherever you are." - Pete Carroll

True enough... If you cobble together my points - I am certain that Hasselbeck is the best option to win. I just don't know if he's the best QB on this team. Talent-wise, I think CW is higher (can scramble and can make the throws that MH lacks). At some point in time, they have to place value on what's more important: Play the guy that gives you the best chance for winning, or take a gamble on the higher talent player who might raise the play of your team.

Of course the plan is to win now, so as long as we are near the top of the NFC West standings, that's Matt Hasselbeck. The PC/JS plan clearly includes other players - so this is not the definitive choice for how competitive our team can be this year. It does remain to be seen - and I think we can all agree that this year's low bar is much higher than last year's high bar.

_________________

And the coaches also know that Hasselbeck has been the face of the franchise for a long time now and can't jettison him the same way they could Deon Grant. They've made a ton of changes this offseason, but they also know which situations they have to deal with more tactfully. I don't see Hasselbeck's starting as a condemnation of Whitehurst, but rather a respect for what Hasselbeck has meant to the franchise and a willingness to allow him to play out his final contract year.

_________________


Okay, so maybe that pass rush is still an issue. Lather, rinse, repeat.

Nobody is saying they should start Whitehurst because he is better than Hass, they are saying we should start Whitehurst to give him valuable in game experience and see if he has what it takes to be the future of this team, because Hass is most likely done as a Hawk after this year.

_________________
I hate Tim Ruskell.

Jesus man... If Hass threw 10 TDs you would complain because he didnt throw 11...

_________________
~ The Stache'

So we should trow in the towel now, for the benefit of later? Hawks are on top of division, they have already won a game they were not suppose to and lost a game they were suppose to. This is a premature conclusion to this season. One good game one bad game for the guy. Give him some games to find some sort of trend for this year. Really at the time of the bye week we should make some sort of opinion, not after week 2 of a division we have a share of the lead.